MOSCOW, January, 14. /TASS/. The first Project-18280 intelligence ship Yury Ivanov has been signed over to the Russian Navy, spokesman for the St. Petersburg-based Severnaya Verf shipyard told TASS on Wednesday.

“The vessel has already been signed over to the Navy - the acceptance act was signed at the end of last year,” the shipyard source said. The communication ship (medium reconnaissance ship, 2nd rank) of Project 18280 is the largest Russian vessel of this class. The vessel has a displacement of around 4,000 tons and a range of at least 8,000 nautical miles. The crew is around 120 people.

The vessel - the lead ship of Project 1820 was laid down in late 2004 and launched in autumn 2013. The ship is expected to be commissioned with the Northern Fleet. The second vessel of the series - the Ivan Khurs ship - was laid down in November 2013 and is expected to be floated out this year.